Archives for March 2015

Measuring what you do is the only way you know you’re accomplishing something important. It’s how you clarify the win and know what success looks like in every area of your life.

Consider how often you start a task or set a goal without defining a strategic way to measure the preferred outcome. Sometimes it’s a simple oversight. At other times, we don’t measure because we fear the result won’t be what we expect it to be.

It’s also true that we can have shifting definitions of success. When something doesn’t go as planned, we may be tempted to redefine the win and rationalize an unexpected (and non-vision-driven) outcome.

The right measures clarify the win in your personal, professional and organizational worlds. They also combat vision drift and misalignment in 2 strategic ways:

They focus on outputs vs. inputs. Inputs tell you what ingredients go in to something. Outputs tell you what comes out on the other side. Move beyond simple input measures to the more significant outcomes you’re aiming for.

They measure quantitative vs. qualitative success. Qualitative measures are subjective and experiential. Quantitative measures, or metrics, are objective and numerical. In most cases, quantitative measures are the best way to measure outcomes without bias.

Remember that measures aren’t goals. Measures are an objective way to express the size, quantity or degree of something. Goals are a numerical objective and desired result for the measures you set. Both are important, but goals won’t mean much if you don’t measure the right things.

Select the right measures. Align measures with organizational vision and values. Think beyond inputs to outputs.

Record the results. Devote time to evaluating and measuring your plans. If you complete a task or goal, plan some time to compare it against the strategic measures you set.

Track data trends. Trends show where you are in relation to your past and can be a predictor of future growth (or decline). Read measures intelligently and watch for important trends indicating health, effectiveness and relevance.

Make measures-driven adjustments. Honest measures indicate one of two things. Either you’ve accomplished your goal or you haven’t. Either you’re moving in an upward trend or you’re not. Make adjustments based on measured results.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Clarify the win. Measuring what you do is the only way you know you’re accomplishing something important.

Growing up in greater Memphis, I don’t think I understood just how complicated my city was (and still is). I had a sheltered view of the city that comes from a comfortable home in the suburbs. But I still say that Memphis is “my city.” It’s the only urban center I come close to claiming. Both in proximity and sentiment, Memphis is my home.

Memphis is a great city. But Memphis is a tragic city, too. While rich in diversity and color, it is forever connected to African Americans’ struggle for equality and justice in the Jim Crow south.

Memphis is a city of widespread poverty, juxtaposed against areas of privilege and wealth. Numerous studies have shown that low income households face significant material, educational and socioeconomic challenges.

Memphis is a city with an identity crisis and a propensity to always expect the worst. As a matter of fact and routine, many expect their lot to always come up short.

As believers, we have an answer for all of it. We can offer real hope and security through Jesus Christ. We can respond to past challenges with His eyes, heart, hands and feet.

But it’s also true that we face a new challenge in our efforts to reach the city. Confront some quick facts about Memphis:

We are a city of over 1 million people.

We speak more than 45 languages.

More than 500,000 people do not know Christ personally.

There are 170 SBC churches in greater Memphis.

A majority of evangelical churches are either plateaued or declining.

We have less money, churches, disciples and staff to deploy against the sea of lostness we confront, and few available ministry partners ready to engage the fight. That’s a statement of fact in post-Christian America. Increasingly, it’s also a statement of fact in the post-Christian southern Bible Belt.

If there’s hope for penetrating lostness in cities like Memphis, it’s going to require a change in strategy:

We must start new churches. Most experts say that we need 1 church for every 1,000 people in urban areas. If so, we need a lot of new evangelical churches in Memphis. The truth is, we need lots of new churches in every corner of North America. Memphis is no exception.

We must revitalize existing churches. It’s not enough to start new churches. We can’t simply write off the 170 SBC churches that already exist in metro Memphis. We need them for the challenge we face.

We must produce disciple-making disciples. Without a renewed commitment to discipleship-based evangelism, there just won’t be enough growth to keep up with the burgeoning lostness around us. Only through reproducing disciples will we have the impact needed to make a difference in the city.

We must do more with less money. Less money means more volunteers and fewer paid workers. It means less full-time staff and more part-time and bi-vocational workers. Effective local associations and city groups will find creative ways to finance ministry in the face of reduced funding.

We must cooperate like never before. It’s clear that while old models of cooperation are important, new models are needed to cope with lostness in the city center. Large churches, regional resources and urban ministry organizations will complement state conventions and denominational groups. That’s how cities like Memphis will be reached.

We must go like never before. While we have to invest our lives in our communities and our city, we can’t do that without a vision to share Christ in other places, too. Our commission is The Great Commission, so we must go far and wide.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Penetrating lostness matters across North America and around the world, and it matters in Memphis. We must change our strategy to start new churches, revitalize existing churches, produce disciples, do more with less, cooperate and go like never before. That’s the way to penetrate lostness in greater Memphis…and the world.

Managing ministry money is one of the first places where vision drift creeps into a church. It happens in the absence of bold vision and a coherent ministry strategy. It also happens with short-sighted or visionless leadership.

Making financial decisions is the golden moment when a church shows its true priorities. A church can say it has strategic priorities, but how it budgets and spends money is a far better indication of what it values than anything it might say.

Why the disconnect? Why do we so often say one thing but do something completely different with ministry money?

Consider the answer in these 6 ministry budget traps:

Silos vs. Vision – Before starting a new budget process, pull staff or volunteer leadership teams together to review vision as well as key strategic areas and initiatives. Work to reduce and eliminate ministry silos with a compelling ministry vision.

Programs vs. Purpose – Budgets are a good time to evaluate ministry programs and purpose. Consider the things you should stop, start and continue doing. Does a ministry program need adjustment? Should an existing program (and budget) be ended in favor of something else?

Events vs. Strategy – Ask leaders who supervise budget lines to think strategically. Require that budget requests be linked to church vision and clearly-defined strategies and action plans. Work with your team to prevent last year’s calendar from automatically determining future plans.

Personalities vs. Priorities – The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Some church budgets reflect this, as more money gets allocated to louder voices and departments. Well-reasoned—but quiet and low key—ministry priorities get pushed aside in these situations. Commit to avoid this trap with a coherent, priority-driven budget process.

Status Quo vs. Change – Create a budget process that encourages a vision-aligned, strategy-driven openness to change. The best stewardship of the church’s financial resources is a Q&A attitude about the status quo.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Allocating money strategically is the best way to manage limited financial resources. Make your budget choices completely dependent on what you are called to do (vision and values), who you are called to reach (outreach focus) and how God has called you to reach them (goals, strategies and action plans).

Who among us doesn’t want to live a life with eternal significance and purpose? Put aside the trappings of earthly success in business or ministry and recognize that real impact happens only when you surrender everything to God.

Over the last two months, our staff has studied Life on Mission by Aaron Coe and Dustin Willis. Here’s how they describe the everyday life believers are called to live:

A life on mission is a calling of abandonment. It is the confession of our willingness to set aside—to abandon—our preferences to follow God’s mission. Like a bungee jumper diving off a platform, we must relinquish our selfish hopes with total abandon to spread the true hope we have found in Jesus.

What does it mean to live life on mission for God? I’ll answer that question with 4 words:

Wait

Abide

Watch

Go

Here’s the full detail of the spiritual truths Coe and Willis present:

1. WAIT on the Lord. Perhaps you spend too little time considering what God is saying in the quiet moments. If so, the watch word is “wait”—create some space in your day to pray, study the Word and worship. Your purpose is to glorify God in everything you do. If you don’t do that, you won’t achieve much that matters.

In the morning, Lord , you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. – Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

2. ABIDE in the Vine. A total realignment takes place when you follow Jesus with abandon. Your life is defined by doing and saying that bears witness to your faith in Christ. More than a head knowledge of who Jesus is, “abiding in the vine” is about living a life in love with the Savior. It translates into doing what God says instead of doing what culture says.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:5 (NIV)

3. WATCH for opportunities to share. Seeing the world with new eyes is the big result of waiting and abiding. Once you’ve prayed, worshiped and focused your heart and mind, it’s amazing how sensitive to the Spirit you become. Your new eyes make it easy to identify people who need the gospel.

I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. – John 4:35 (NIV)

4. GO and make disciples. For a Spirit-sensitive person, seeing people who need the gospel leads naturally to sharing a verbal witness. Whether it’s a personal faith story, testimony or life lesson, missional living demands sharing. You are called to invest your life in others as you share the gospel and invite others into disciple-making relationships. Then, you send others out to share their faith.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8 (NIV)

So what’s the Big Idea?

Wait, abide, watch and go. Live out radical obedience to God. Live an everyday life on mission.